Oracle OS Management Service manages 800 terabytes with Autonomous Database
Oracle OS Management Service relies on Autonomous Database to manage 800 TB of data used to automate updates of customer operating system instances.
“We rely on Oracle Autonomous Database to run OS Management Service, and are able to operate about 5,000 databases with no DBAs. I would not want to go back to any other database. With Autonomous Database our team can do more high-value work, because we don’t have to spend time tuning, optimizing, backing up, patching, or updating databases.”
Business challenges
Patching and updating operating systems is critically important for security. In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), that work is automated for customers using OS Management Service. The service stores detailed information about every OS instance in a database. That data is combined with current information about what patches, packages, or updates are available to give customers the choice of what changes to implement. So whether the need is “Install all available security patches on Friday,” “Which instance contains this package?” or “Update the following systems to version X on this schedule,” Oracle OS Management Service can automate it.
Why Oracle chose Autonomous Database
When it came time to build Oracle OS Management, one of the key decisions was which database to use for managing all that data. As the development team was building a new service, it was important for developers to spend as much time as possible adding new functionality. And that meant leaving database administration to the database. So OS Management Service was built from the ground up to use Oracle Autonomous Database.
Results
Today, OS Management Service operates about 5,000 databases with around 800 TB of data under management. Because the service uses Oracle Autonomous Database for transaction processing and mixed workloads, it doesn’t need any administration resources. In fact, Beukes says, “one developer knows a bit about the database but is not a DBA” sums up how valuable Autonomous Database is to this team.
Every customer is different. Some have larger installations, which put more demands on the underlying database. To avoid performance issues, the development team uses autoscaling for those larger customers. So in the event there is a temporary increase in load, Autonomous Database will automatically add more OCPUs, up to 3 times the base allocation, to ensure that those customers don’t see a drop in performance.
Developers want to spend their time creating new functionality, not administering a database. Autonomous Database enables them to do just that.